Party day

Uncle Romeo and Auntie Juliet decided to have a combined birthday party this year. It was a great idea. Juliet had everyone organised to bring an item of food and it worked out beautifully with minimum fuss.  It was a VERY hot day so the children only spent a very short time in the sunshine. 

After a little bit of ball throwing, Little Bear, Dragon and Monkey spotted Romeo's open shed. Of course it was probably full of exciting things just waiting to be discovered. 

Behind the shed is the fence and behind the fence is the neighbour's yard and in the neighbours yard is a big dog with a big bark.  The dog could not get into Romeo's yard, but the kids didn't know that.  They also didn't know that the dog wasn't actually inside the shed. He just sounded like it.

As I took the last photo, Monkey burst into terrified tears and I put the camera down and gave him lots of cuddles. It's tough being a granny :)

When it was time for cake, scary dogs were forgotten.  Little Bear didn't want to miss out on blowing out the candles even though it was not her birthday.

Of course the youngest member of the family, Ladybug, didn't miss out on any fun with five bigger cousins to keep her entertained.

It was a great day. Happy Birthday Uncle Romeo and Auntie Juliet.

Cuddles rides again

This is an old photograph of Jingles.

Uncle Jingles is now 22, but when he was a little tike, grandad (my dad) took him to a big toy store in Sydney that sold nothing but teddy bears. In fact two floors of teddy bears. You can imagine what a 3 year old thought of that. There were teddies of every colour, shape and size. Every teddy had its own certificate of baptism. Truly!

Jingles chose the teddy he wanted - not the biggest teddy or the best dressed teddy, just the right soft, cuddly blue teddy to cuddle up to in bed. The teddy's name was on his baptism certificate already, "Cuddles". Very appropriate. So we took Cuddles home and he was always a favourite.

Eventually, Jingles grew up, got married and left Cuddles behind. By then we had Lion and Dragon and Cheetah and Little Bear often coming to visit so Cuddles never got lonely for long.

But Dragon has taken a special interest in Cuddles, whom he calls Huggles. He has even taken Cuddles/Huggles home to stay with him and Lion for a few weeks, but Cuddles belongs here and comes back to wait for Dragons next visit. Cuddles is never disappointed. Dragon always takes Cuddles for a little walk around the house and once even around the whole park. They make such a cute pair.

Cuddles is one lucky little bear.